Anytime Doesn't Mean Never
by FollowGibbs'Rules
Summary: Tony, Ziva, and McGee all get new jobs. Who gets them where? Extensive story with Tiva, Tony being a cute father, and a lot of family troubles. All is explained in the story.
1. Chapter 1

**So I decided to make a story that I will hopefully finish. It is based off the season finale, even though I started two months later. Now understand, I figured out this entire story without knowing about Cote de Pablo's contract (I was at camp). I guess this story could happen then. I have no idea how fast these chapters will come up. Honestly, it depends on how motivated I am. (P.S. Reviews and just views in general help :D) This does go back and forth so it may be a bit confusing at first.**

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If someone was asked if unemployment was fun, especially after working for their favorite job, there answer would be simple: No. Not at all. Sitting around all day, planning great things you really don't have the money for was boring, not to mention somewhat depressing. Not to mention the fact that time goes ten times slower than usual when you're bored. Alone. And maybe slightly hung over from last night's bout of minor depression of reality crashing down.

There is this huge problem with being unemployed: you can't get paid for sitting on your ass all day in your own house. It doesn't matter if you have thousands of hundreds of dollars in your savings to live on; you don't know how long you'll be unemployed for and can't just go around wasting money that you might need later. I mean, you can go out to eat a few times, maybe go to a carnival or two, but you can't go on that road trip through Europe that you've always wanted to go on. No matter how much better that seems.

Those are a few of the problems that former Special Agent Anthony 'Tony' DiNozzo was facing as he sat on his couch to watch his fifth movie of the day. He'd been doing this just about every day since he resigned from his beloved job. To be fair, it had only been a bit over a week since he resigned with the other two members of his team. He had allowed his brain to just allow it to think that this week was his usual week off from work to catch up with sleep and relax. Once seven days passed and Tony realized that he was probably never going back to work, the aforementioned bout of reality check just about destroyed him the previous night.

His former male counterpart on the Major Case Response Team for NCIS, Timothy 'Tim' McGee, was having similar problems. Except instead of indulging himself in movies, it was in videogames. Mindless violence, playing the opposite of his job and killing innocent people left and right. Why? Because it was distracting and it gave him an excuse, albeit a bad one, to not get changed often, avoid people, and keep his mind in a depressed lull.

Tony kept telling himself that after this movie he would call up some friend, anyone, and go outside to see the sun again. But then he put in the next movie and just told himself the same thing. And he continued that for the day. He managed to make it through half of this movie of whatever it was. He didn't even care what he put in anymore, not like he paid much attention to it anyway. If he bothered to glance at the TV, then he could figure out what movie it was. It was his specialty anyway.

The most social interaction McGee had was the day after everything went down, when he, Abby, Ziva, and Tony had gone out for drinks. Although it really was that he and Abby went out for drinks and talked while Tony and Ziva sat next to each other, dead silent, and staring at their drinks. Eventually they managed to snap out of their trance and just left, separately, with quiet goodbyes.

Tony felt another reality check being dumped on him when he remembered what he had told Ziva after they left the bar.

_Tony walked out of the thick-aired bar into the cool summer night behind his best friend and former partner, Ziva David. The two walked to their adjacent cars and looked at each other. For a minute, they just stared at each other, trying to read the other like they always could._

_Ziva was the one to break the silence, "Tony…" Her infamous statement that never seemed to be completed._

_Tony cocked his head to the side slightly, waiting for her to continue. He took a quick glance around them, hoping to everything ever that nothing interrupted her this time._

"_See you soon." The three simple words were put together to be left in his interpretation. Either it was a statement, a promise, that they will see each other again. Or it was a question; Ziva was wondering if it was okay with him to see him again, even if it was only brief._

_Tony's shoulders sagged as soon as he said that. Not out of disappointment, but out of relief that no one had interrupted them and it was a very complex statement. He took it as a question and nodded back. "Yeah, anytime."_

Well, that anytime had still not come up. It was partly Tony's fault. He wasn't reaching out the same way she wasn't. And the way he left the conversation didn't leave one of them obligated to reach out to the other. Either one could do it without feeling desperate but they just didn't want to. They didn't want to face the reality that they wouldn't be able to see each other or work close with them anymore.

McGee was on his way to defeating the game, possibly for the third time this week, when he heard a knock at the door. His hand slipped when he started from the sudden noise and the simple move managed to get his person killed. He looked over at his door with a glare before he realized that a normal person would answer it.

A similar knock, just as delicate too, came from Tony's door. Tony groaned a little and got up. He didn't even bother pausing the movie. It's not like he was actually watching it. He slowly made his way to the door, shuffling his feet and feeling a little dizzy from the sudden movements. Sitting doing nothing for a week can really put a damper on your exercise routine. When Tony finally made it over to the door, it wasn't until it was almost fully opened that he remembered that he was only wearing sweatpants.

McGee sighed, looked himself over. He was wearing a stained MIT shirt and underwear. _Pants would be good to put on. _He thought and pulled on some nearby sweatpants before walking over to the door. He opened the door and was surprised to see who was there.

It's not like Tony has issues with showing off his torso, but he hadn't really looked down to see what beer and pizza had done to him. He guessed it wasn't that bad considering the lady standing behind his door looked over him, slowing on his bare chest. It was then that he realized he had no idea who was standing near him or why she were there. He opted to narrow his eyes at her questioningly until she finally started talking.

"Dorneget?" McGee exclaimed at the person standing in his doorway. "What are you doing here? And how did you get my address?" He just stared in shock and confusion at the young probationary agent that was standing across from him.

"Hi McGee. Uh, well, you _are_ just a civilian now so your address really isn't top secret." Dorneget answered with a small, awkward shrug.

McGee could understand that answer. That didn't answer his first question though. "So why are you here?" He asked, adding a little accusatory tone to make sure Dorneget answered.

"I was sent here," was the other man's answer.

"Former Special Agent DiNozzo." She added a little nod after. The woman's greeting was so formal, it unnerved Tony a little. She took a moment to let him respond, but all he did was stare at her. "I am NCIS Special Agent Miranda Leerdan, here on request of Director Vance."

Tony figured he should speak eventually so he took his chance. "What does he want? I no longer work for him."

Dorneget was far less formal. He still didn't have the sense to complete the thought so McGee had to ask him a couple more questions to finally get a little bit of information. Finally after ten minutes, McGee summed up the news. "So, Director Vance wants me and Tony to come back and work with NCIS in the MCRT?"

Dorneget nodded curtly. "Yeah, pretty much. With me and another woman."

Tony got excited; a little fangirl was screaming her head off in his head. He got to go back to work? And lead the team? With no consequences? This couldn't get any better. That's when something that Miranda had said finally sunk in. "Wait a minute. I'm leading a team of you, McGee, and Dorneget? That's it? No one else?" He frowned a little.

Miranda didn't seem at all surprised that Tony asked this. She was even told by Director Vance to expect some backfire from him. _'He'll mention a Ziva David. Just tell him that under the circumstances of why everything happened, she cannot be rehired here.'_ Those were the very words of the director. Even though so many questions blazed through her mind, she just simply nodded and accepted her mission. As she relayed the message the very confused and now somewhat pissed off man in front of her, she wondered what exactly had happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Meant to update yesterday, got really distracted. Woops, sorry. Thank you for all the follows and reviews I've gotten. I'll try to get one or two up tomorrow, but I procrastinate a lot so...We'll see. What was your opinion of the new girl and the new team in general? Just curious. The chapters will get more interesting after this, I swear. KK, have fun reading!**

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Tony stood in his doorway for a full two minutes after Miranda left, thinking everything over. He was given three days to make his decision. Then if he accepted the job, he was given another week off until he had to work again. After he got over his original shock, Tony shut his front door and grabbed his phone. Immediately, he called McGee to see if he got the news. Tony was super anxious for some reason and felt like the phone kept ringing- when in reality it was only three rings. "McGee!" He exclaimed when the other man picked up the phone.

"Hey, Tony. Did you get the job offer too?" McGee asked. He started pacing around his apartment after Dorneget left. He stopped for a brief moment to answer the phone then continued with his pacing.

"Oh yeah, I got it. Did Dorny show up at your door?" Tony walked slowly over to his couch and sat down. He ran a hand over his face and sighed.

"Yeah. Who went to you?" Tim continued his endless pacing, still pretty anxious about what happened.

"Our new agent, Miranda Leerdan. Pretty girl, seems really serious though." Tony made sure to describe her as a girl. Even just one word meant a lot. To Tony, saying girl meant that he found her too young and naïve to even deal with in a way other than purely professional.

And that message ran loud and clear for McGee. He nodded to Tony's response even though no one could see him. "Are you getting this bad feeling about being hired back so soon too? I find it weird that the DOD is letting Vance bring us back after a week. I know us two personally aren't responsible for most of the stuff but still…"

"I'm feeling the same way too. It was way too easy for us to come back without any consequences. Like a demotion or something, but no, we managed to get a promotion of all things." Tony shook his head. "Doesn't make any sense."

A look of dread flashed across McGee's face before he reminded Tony, "Well, there is one consequence." He said quietly, not really wanting to bring the subject up.

Tony knew he was talking about Ziva. "Yeah, I know, I know. It really sucks too." He figured that the fact that he probably would rarely ever have time to even think about seeing Ziva would hit him hard eventually, but for now he was staying calm. _The entire team dynamic is gonna be so different though._ He thought.

"It's gonna be weird, working with two completely different people." McGee said, practically reiterating Tony's thoughts. "I mean, Dorneget isn't that bad. At least we know him pretty well. I don't know about you being his leader though." Tim muttered under his breath.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I'll make sure he builds some character and toughens up."

"So you really are thinking about taking it?" McGee questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, why not? We'll have something to do during the day again." Tony said. "I don't know about you but I'll only be well off with my savings for maybe another month or two."

"What if it all isn't sanctioned?" Tim asked suddenly.

Tony's face pinched into a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

McGee sighed then started to elaborate, "What if Vance is doing this without the DOD knowing? That's not gonna look good for us."

Tony shrugged. "Nah, Vance wouldn't do that. Not with all that has happened." He wasn't exactly sure if he believed himself or not, but it seemed like a pretty reasonable argument. "I think it will be fun."

"And how's that exactly?" McGee asked with a slightly exasperated tone.

"Well, we can finally snoop around and see what Gibbs was sent on." Tony said, trying to sound optimistic. "Still wondering if they sent the old guy on a mission to hard for him." He froze for a second when he realized what he said out loud. "No one is to ever know that I just said that or I'll skin you alive. Understood McGee?" He sent across a threatening tone, but it was still light and a little playful.

McGee just settled on rolling his eyes loud enough for Tony to hear over the phone.

Tony laughed a little. _Yeah, this should be good._ He thought. He really did miss talking to McGee. Their banter was fun, brotherly, just as he liked it. _Maybe being team leader would be good for me. I have been Senior Field Agent for a while, I need the step up. _Against his strong attempts to not think about Ziva not being there, the name crept into his thoughts. _I can't do this without her. We're partners, we need to work together._ Those were his initial thoughts but then he realized that he'd be team leader, and he did not have a partner. If Ziva was on his team, she would be partners with McGee; and as much as he loves the guy, Tony doesn't think that he could deal with him and Ziva always being with each other. It would kill him inside slowly. _Maybe it is good for her to be off the team._ Tony figured. After weighing his options thoroughly, he figured out what he wanted to do. Tony assumed that McGee had gotten lost in his own thoughts because he found his friend still on the other end of the call after the minute pause in the conversation.

"I think we should take it." Tony concluded out loud. He felt like it was thought through enough that he wouldn't have too many regrets.

"Me too." McGee couldn't help but agree. Unemployment was killing him and he really missed being in the field. Not to mention, being a Senior Field Agent sounded amazing. He had always wanted the responsibility.

"Alright, see you in a week then." Tony said with a grin on his face now.

"See ya, Tony." Both ends of the line went dead as the two phones were put away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, information upon information here. So pay attention. This is placed five months after the last chapter and the next chapter(which I'll most likely get up later today) will be a month after this. So really, most of this story will be six and a half months after the resignation. Enjoy!**

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"What's new?" The call that rang throughout the bullpen had become so familiar after five months. The exact date when the phrase was sounded is unclear, but it had become a customary thing to say whenever Tony walked into the bullpen during a case. One day it was just a casual question, Tony being curious as to what was happening in his team's lives. Then he started saying it every day, most of the time nobody answered because did Tony truly need to know about their personal lives? It just so happened that he said it during a case and Dorneget took it as Tony asking about news on the case and just started rambling off what he found. And that's what the phrase has been used for ever since. Some might say that it was progress on Tony's part though. He doesn't care about his team's personal lives as much anymore.

"Metro found the fifth victim on the swing set in the park. Looks like the killer tied her hands to the chains and sent her swinging. She must not have been there long because the swing was still going a little bit." The answer came from Agent Leerdan. She watched as DiNozzo made his way across the bullpen and to his desk.

Tony placed down his cup on his desk and looked over at Miranda. "Name and family?" He asked.

Miranda nodded and brought the info on the up on the plasma screen in the middle of the bullpen. "Alexis Briard, eleven."

Tony sucked in a deep breath before turning to face the screen. On it was a picture of a young girl, with brown curly hair, green eyes, and the widest smile you could ever imagine. The picture was an average school picture with the weird background that completely contrasted with the outfit. Once Tony saw that innocent, smiling face, all the air in him was lost and he looked absolutely defeated for a brief moment. He was used to the feeling by now; this was the fifth time he saw a young girl's smiling face on the plasma. But that doesn't mean it gets any easier. "Same story?" He asked.

McGee took over with informing Tony and gave him a short nod. "Yeah. Her mother, Lieutenant Commander Eleanor Briard, shipped out to Afghanistan five months ago and went MIA a month ago." He said as he brought up her credentials and picture on the plasma. "Her body was found last week near the location of a mortar attack. Her body was almost burnt beyond recognition."

Dorneget then picked up where McGee left off. "Her husband, Caleb Briard, found out about Eleanor the day after the body was found and had the funeral two days after." He took a moment to breath then continued, "This one was quicker than usual."

Tony tried not to glare at the younger agent for saying that. It was true, but it still sucked to hear about it. The entire case hit everybody hard. So far, five girls had been killed because of a frickin' coincidence with their families. Some man had been going around, finding families that lost the wife in battle, leaving a single dad with a daughter under the age of 15. He targeted those people and went after the daughter. The only two things that changed where the locations of the body, usually by some place that kids loved to go, and how long the body would go missing for.

Tony rubbed his jaw roughly and sighed. "Alright, let's go over everything. From the beginning. Chelsea Sutter, twelve, was the first girl two months ago. Her mother, Commander Elena Sutter, was killed a month earlier in action. Our killer took Chelsea two weeks after and didn't kill her for four days. According to Metro police, they got a call from the guy saying that they had four days to find him. "Then two weeks later it was Dakota Shaddix, age eight. Same thing. And then Brittany Hath and Dahlia Buckstead. One fifteen, the other ten. The first three were all Metro's case. All were given four days to be found and for some reason they couldn't even get a name." Tony raised his voice slightly, mostly because he hadn't gotten any farther. They had the case for a month so far and all they've gotten was too many sleepless nights. Any leads they had gotten were almost immediately dead ends, which led to frustration which led to regrets. Tony shook his head when that thought popped into his head. He couldn't be thinking about that stuff right now. "McGee, go check with Abby, see if she got anything." He ordered.

Before the agent could stand, he got a call from none other than Abby. He listened to what the forensic specialist rambled on excitedly about before hanging up, his eyes wide. "Abby managed to a print from where Dahlia was kidnapped. And she got a match." He started typing furiously at his computer and brought up the face and credentials of a man from an email Abby sent. "His name is Daniel Flounds." McGee started researching everything he could on the man. "He has no record but he does have a huge connection to the case."

"What it is, McGee?" Tony practically shouted impatiently.

"His wife, Wendy, was killed in action over in Afghanistan two months before the killings started, and he had a daughter, Marissa. She died of some disease three weeks after Wendy died." McGee said.

DiNozzo smiled a little. He had finally got the guy. "Find him, now."

Tim shook his head. "I can't. He's been off the grid since his wife died. He took out all his money from the bank, moved, and never gave his new address to the bank. He's probably even out of work unless it's under the table kind of things."

"What?" Tony snapped at him. "Try harder."

"I can't." The senior field agent said back defiantly. The two started glaring at each other.

"Hey!" Leerdan cut in to the little staring match. "I think I have an idea on how to catch the guy." She said with a small shrug.

Tony slowly turned his head to look at her until his curious gaze rested upon her face. "Elaborate." He said, trying to sound as hopeful as possible.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yes, two in one day. Thank you for the review and follows. Remember, this is a month after the last chapter and should explain Miranda's plan. If you still don't get it, feel free to ask.**

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The basketball net made a loud _swoosh_ as the basketball made its way through, not touching the rim at all. "Oh-ho! That makes it ten to seven." A young girl's voice rang out. She laughed loudly and back a few steps away from the free throw line and stopped at the three-point line. "You better step up your game, your age is showing." She teased to the older man that was standing in the paint, facing her with his jaw slack in fake annoyance and the basketball tucked under his arm. The man was in fact Tony DiNozzo, and doubting his basketball skills was not going to end well for her.

"I let you score that. Be ready for the come back." He snarled playfully at the girl, who was no older than fourteen.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, _Dad_. Now give me the ball so I can check it." She said and held out her hands to catch it.

Tony shook his head. "Calm it with the name calling, not everybody needs to know." He threw the ball over to her.

"Isn't the point of this whole undercover op thing supposed to be so everyone knows?" She asked.

"Well no one's supposed to know it's an op, _Kaylie_." Tony said, a little bitterly to get the point across.

Kaylie rolled her eyes. "No one's even here. Well, besides that one woman who keeps looking at you. But I've learned to just ignore those looks." She smirked a little and tossed the ball back to him. "Check it." She said.

He threw it back to her and stepped up close. "Oh yeah? What does she look like?" He smiled and took a quick glance behind him but didn't see the woman.

Kaylie gagged a little. "Are you kidding me? You're sick. I am not doing this for you." She shifted her body so her side was towards him and dribbled the ball in the hand away from him.

Tony crouched down a little in a defensive stand. "Come on," He practically begged. "I can't go out with woman because of this op. You gotta give me something." He shot his hand forward in an attempt to hit the ball away from her. He missed.

Kate sighed. "Fine." She backed away from him for a bit to get a look at the woman then shot forward, trying to get past him and to the net. "Dark hair, tied back in a tight pony tail. Round face, looks foreign." She said then grunted when she slammed into his solid body, which effectively stopped her pursuits to get the ball closer to the net.

Tony laughed a little when she didn't get anywhere. "She hot?" He asked in a quiet voice.

Kate couldn't help sneer a little and backed off with the ball again. "Probably to you." She muttered. "That's all I'm saying. This is weird." She took another surge forward towards him but this time, when Tony took a step forward, she cut to the left side and went around him.

Tony spun around to catch her. He took two steps forward and wrapped an arm around her stomach. Before Kaylie could get the shot off, he lifted her up off the ground and used his other hand to knock the ball up into the air.

"Hey!" Kaylie managed to squeal before pushing herself out of his grip.

Tony caught the ball and held it high above her. "Come on, get it." He teased.

She looked up at him angrily and just stared at him. "Sore loser." She muttered.

He just shrugged and looked around. His gaze stopped when he saw the woman and everything in his body went dead. He dropped his arm and stared at the women for a bit. He whispered something incoherent.

"Yo, Tony!" Kaylie shouted up to him, breaking him out of his trance. "Maybe you should gawk in a less obvious way." She rolled her eyes and grabbed the basketball.

Tony shook his head a little and checked the time on his watch. "Uh, I think it's time for a break. He started walking off the court.

Kaylie had no chance but to follow him. The two stopped several yards away from the woman. Tony put a hand on Kaylie's shoulder and handed her five dollars. "Go get an ice cream from the stand down there." He said and nodded towards it. "And walk slowly, _very _slowly."

Kaylie just snatched the money out of his hand, nodded, and started walking away.

Tony watched her for a moment then looked over at the woman and walked over to the bench she was sitting at. "Our game entertaining enough for you?" He asked and sat down next to her.

"Yes, it was very interesting to see you lose a basketball game to a fourteen year old." She said with a light and playful tone. For some reason she didn't look at him, just kept her eyes on the basketball court.

Tony nodded and laughed a little bit. "I let her win. Couldn't have her little dreams crushed already now could I, Ziva?" He said.

Ziva looked at Tony when he said her name. It has been over six months since the last time she heard him say her name and up until now she didn't realize how much she missed it, and more importantly, how much she missed him. "I supposed not. And, if you don't mind me asking, who exactly is she?" Ziva asked then looked over to where Kaylie was.

"Makayla Suiter," Tony said. "Is her real name. For now though, she is Kaylie Pirocchi." He followed her gaze over to the teenage girl.

"And what does that make you then?" The Israeli looked back at him and looked him over quickly for probably the fiftieth time in the past hour. He had changed since she last saw him. The few things she pointed out were obvious: tanner, different hairstyle (made him look a little younger), looked taller but that may have been because he definitely lost a few pounds. It had been six months, so the changes weren't that surprising. But there was something else that had changed about it. It was similar to when he was sent away on Agent Afloat, but not older, just…hardened maybe. Then she remembered what his new job was, the MCRT leader. The responsibility must have weighed him down more than usual.

"For the past month I have been Anthony Pirocchi." Tony sighed. "A single dad that lost his wife in battle." He added as a side note. "The man I'm after is attracted to that kind of stuff. He targets the daughter." Tony couldn't help but sneer a little bit.

Ziva nodded slowly. "Those are the things that I do not miss with my new job." She said and pursed her lips.

"Ah, yes. Your new job. And what is that exactly?" Tony asked, his voice going up a few octaves because of his curiosity.

She smiled a little. "I work for the CIA now. They offered me the job no more than a week after we resigned. They said with my background I would be a good asset." Ziva said then sucked in a deep breath and began her story of the past six months. "I accepted, it was a good deal and Vance already told me that there was no way I could go back to NCIS after what had happened. They sent me on several, normal operations. Extracting a few people out of a country and placing them elsewhere; a few easy kills that were sanctioned." She shrugged. "They just wanted to make sure that they could trust me and I was a good agent."

When she mentioned how killing people was easy to her, Tony frowned and squirmed a little. He was worried that she was reverting back to her old Mossad ways. The only thing that comforted him was that she didn't notice his squirming. "So do they trust you now?" He asked.

Ziva nodded. "I believe so, yes."

"So, uh, what are you doing here? Am I part of some mission?" Tony tried to sound joking, but that really could be true and that's the last he wanted.

Ziva replied, "Not exactly. Because of my good relationship with NCIS, I was sent to inform you that someone from that Navy was killed but because it has the same MO as other murders for a CIA case, we are investigating it."

"You are stealing my case?" Tony asked with a little smile, trying not to sound mad.

"It looks like you already have a full time one." She remarked and looked back to Kaylie, who was now walking towards them in a very slow and zig-zaggy manner. Ziva smiled at how the girl was acting. _She listens to him._ She thought, very amused.

"Yeah, well, that's what I have a whole team for." Tony retorted.

Ziva just shrugged. "Maybe you can talk to Vance about it, but it's mine for now."

DiNozzo gave her a small nod that sent the two into a minute lapse of silence. When Tony noticed Kaylie was close, he figured his time with Ziva should be up soon. "Well, it's always nice to see you Ziva." He said with a small time.

"Same to you, _Anthony_." Ziva couldn't help but purr a little at the name. She had secretly preferred his full name to Tony, but never had an excuse to say it without drawing suspicions at the random name change. "I am sure this will not be the last time we come across each other." She said and stood up.

Tony mimicked her motions and smiled at her. "I'm glad." He guessed that this was their own way of goodbye because Ziva turned to walked away from him.

Kaylie walked up behind Tony as Ziva started her first few steps away. "So who is she?" The teenager asked when Ziva was far enough away.

Tony couldn't stop smiling as he watched the Israeli walk away. When Kaylie spoke he jumped a little and looked down at her. "No one that you need to know." He said as he put a hand between her shoulders and started leading her the other way.

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**I love having Tony as a father, so yes it tends to be a theme in my stories. Ziva will be around plenty so don't worry.**


	5. Chapter 5

The dark gray walls always seem to depress her in the slightest bit. They were just so dull and lifeless and maybe that was the point, to get the suspects to be so depressed that they just confessed. Ziva certainly would. But what she did not get at all is why the grey was _everywhere_; the lobby, the offices, even the bathrooms for some reason. The rumors about the CIA being a super-exciting spy agency are only true if you stay far away from the office. Which is hard when you have to go to meetings once a week. Fortunately, Ziva could avoid those meetings if she was on assignment. Unfortunately, Ziva was off assignment and had to spend the entire day at the office going to meetings, reporting in, or being a boring paper-pusher if she had nothing else to do.

She probably would not have minded as much (don't get her wrong, she would still hate it) if her first meeting with her controlling officer hadn't been at 5 A.M. on a Monday morning. It was like this every week, every month, and won't change for anything. She used to have to come in this early way back when she was with Mossad, but that habit died after eight years of NCIS. What made this meeting so much worse than usual was the fact that she was tired, and not really the tiredness she could work through; Ziva was utterly exhausted and she had no idea why. She was blaming it on her meeting with Tony the day before which caused her to stay up all night, rethinking everything possible for no good reason other than her brain, like many others, goes on overdrive late at night.

So at 6:15 A.M., Ziva was sitting in her controlling officer's office, desperately trying not to fall asleep. She rolled her head back and forth, trying to crack her neck and hoping the pop will wake her up just barely. It must have worked because her controlling officer strolled in at 6:30, per the usual half hour lateness to the meeting.

As soon as the woman got a step into the door, Ziva was on her feet with her hands folded in front of her. Ziva nodded her head respectively as C.I.A. Agent Susan Ripley breezed past her and went straight to the desk. Agent Ripley would be considered an attractive person to just about everyone if it wasn't for her CIA façade that made her impossibly stubborn and secretive. Not to mention the way she dressed herself made her look so much worse than she could. No one gave her their opinions though, she was too important and had too many people's ears. "Agent David, report in." Ripley stated, getting straight to the point as she always did.

"Jordan Harmsey was detained at 1300, Friday. There was a brief firefight before his detainment; Agent Larson was injured in the leg. Currently he is at the hospital resting and will be back on desk duty in three days." Ziva said in a completely monotone voice. She knew that Ripley didn't care in any way about Larson, but she felt like mentioning it to see if any emotion passed across the woman's face. There was no response at all so Ziva continued, "Harmsey was sent to Mor at 1330." Mor was CIA talk for the morgue, it was the usual ending for the CIA's targets. "His confession will be found somewhere." Ziva stated, her voice obviously ridden with doubt.

During the entire report, Ripley focused on everything but the person in front of her. She went from organizing papers to logging onto her computer to looking through files to going through her emails. She didn't need to pay attention to Agent David, it would all be written up eventually. After a moment of silence, Susan looked up to the younger woman. "What about that other assignment Hillman gave you yesterday?" It was clear to anyone listening that Ripley had not at all agreed with David having this assignment.

"To be a liaison with NCIS over the latest radioactive head?" Ziva asked, just to be clear.

Ripley just nodded and gave David a brief look of annoyance at the stupid question.

"I spoke to NCIS Special Agent DiNozzo yesterday to inform him that we would take the case so we don't need to work with them. He seemed to accept it. He didn't have much choice anyway, he was on assignment. Long term undercover op tha-."

Ripley cut her off with a wave of her hand. "I don't care." She said honestly.

Ziva figured that was a just action; she was just getting lost in her thoughts of NCIS anyway.

"Good work on telling him. The last thing we need is NCIS butting in to our case. This is a very delicate situation."

Ziva nodded in appreciation at the compliment. Compliments from her controlling officer were few and far between but they weren't something to boast about.

"Now, do you think that Agent Di-whatever his name is will search farther into the case?" Ripley asked. "Because we can't have that."

Ziva took a deep breath and wondered where this was going. "No, Agent DiNozzo will not personally search farther because of his assignment. But he will tell his Senior Field Agent, Special Agent McGee, to dive deeper into it and…"She paused for a second and wondered if she should rat out her friend. The CIA would find out that she withheld information eventually and she couldn't get in trouble; that would jeopardize everything. _Sorry McGee_. She hoped that thought got to him and continued, "And he would use his advanced computer skills to hack in to our system, retrieve the data, and then leave the system without a single person knowing. He also may have already done it too." Ziva said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She said sorry to McGee in her mind once again.

Ripley stared at her computer for a minute, taking in the information and thinking about what she should do about it. "Okay." She said eventually. "I'll get the people in Tech Services to make sure to look out for him. But if there is a chance that he has already retrieved the data, then I need you to go seek out DiNosto again and see if you get any information from him."

Ziva's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "He is a trained NCIS agent. He will not just hand over information that I am not supposed to know."

Ripley nodded. "I know that's why I am giving you another assignment. I want you to get close to him, as close as you possibly can. You need him to trust you enough that you can do whatever it is that you need to do to get that information."

"Are you ordering me to date him?" Ziva asked, trying to hold back her shock to this new operation. She's not going to say no to it, obviously. She actually gets to date him. But being ordered to do it just feels so…wrong. She has had to do it before, so many times before but the difference is that those were random men that were truly bad and deserved what they got. This was Tony, and to put it into Abby's words 'all soft and mushy on the outside and a hundred percent rock on the inside'. He wasn't a criminal; he just wanted to know why a case was taken away from him suddenly.

Ripley nodded once. "For the time being. You can get rid of him as soon as I say. I really don't care what you do with him." She shrugged. "Just get the job done and everything will be fine."

It took all of Ziva's strength not to shoot Ripley for treating Tony like a piece of trash. She managed a short nod and turned around to leave the room. "I will do my best. As always." She muttered through gritted teeth then walked out stiffly.

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**Yeah, so, long time no update, sorta. I'll try to get another up today. Sorry about not updating, Chapter 4 got barely any views and that didn't motivate me at all. Not to mention I really didn't know what I was writing for this chapter. So I'll try to update more frequently as long as I get some feedback that people are reading this. Thanks for reading. See ya soon, hopefully. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**For some reason, my laptop decided not to like me much today. I got several paragraphs into this then distracted myself with Sims. My laptop then overheated, and me being my genius self that doesn't save it, lost the progress when my laptop shut itself off. I went back to Sims after that and played for about two hours, making tons of progress (I made the NCIS crew and got them very far, Tony and Ziva got engaged, there was several promotions), then it decided not to respond anymore and I lost everything.**

**Moral of this little pointless story: Save everything frequently**

**Now as you laugh at my misery(I don't mind, I'm laughing at myself too), please enjoy this chapter:**

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McGee walked out of the secondary elevator, walking to the bullpen. He was previously visiting Abby's lab, just trying to get away from the brutal case. After a month, the case was brutal in two ways; on the mind and on the body. He kind of felt bad for the two other agents on the team; they weren't used to these types of cases and it takes several years to get used to.

_It could be worse_, he supposed. He could be Tony and have to work the case every single hour. Except it wasn't really working the case because Tony had no idea what was going on with the case until at least ten at night, when he was allowed his call to McGee to catch up, he couldn't call NCIS without risk of Flounds getting suspicious of why Tony was calling a secure line every night. McGee could imagine how pent up Tony would be at not knowing if anything important had happened to make a break in the case. _Another month of this and Tony is sure to go insane_. McGee thought to himself. He entered the bullpen and looked over at Tony's empty desk. There were scarcely any items on it because no one has touched it in a month. McGee sighed. _Maybe he already went insane._

Tim may be right with the last thought. Because the case was turning colder by the day, the phone conversations were brief and useless. Two weeks into the operation, Tony stopped McGee before he could hang up and started talking about what he and Kaylie had done during the day. At first Tim thought it was weird that Tony was doing this, then, after a brief discussion with Ducky and thinking it through, McGee realized that Tony was doing this as a way to escape the case for a moment. Albeit it was a very brief moment, it was better than nothing at all. For the first few days of the stories, McGee just sat there and let Tony blabber on about it. After a few more days, McGee actually started to enjoy the stories and kind of get into them. He also enjoyed how much Tony enjoyed acting as a father, not that Tony would ever admit that. No, he would just snort, comment on how annoying Kaylie could be, and change the subject. Of course McGee tried to trick Tony into saying it a few times, but always fell short.

McGee couldn't help but smile as he remembered a few of the stories. After a few seconds of staring at the desk, the SFA turned his head across the bullpen to look at the probationary agent. "Dorny, did anything come back on the BOLO yet?"

After a few clicks of keys on a keyboard, a shake of the head accompanied by a sullen answer of, "No, nothing," came from Agent Dorneget.

Tim let out a short sigh. He hadn't really expected much, there hadn't been any news on Flounds for weeks, but it would have been a nice surprise to have something. A break in the case could liven things up. Ever since Tony went on assignment, the team became this gloomy mass in the middle of the office. Everyone tried to joke and poke fun at each other, but it usually just bummed everyone out even more because it was just so pathetic. Even though Tony could be a serious leader, he really was needed in the office. He brought a whole different atmosphere everywhere he went.

McGee shook his head to clear his thoughts. _Focus. I need to focus._ Once he was thinking straight, Tim looked at Miranda. "Leerdan, any news come back on family of Flounds?" He asked.

Miranda shook her head with the same expression on her face as Dorneget had. "No. I can't find his brother Mark or his sister Tina at all."

McGee closed his eyes and started thinking of other ways to find Daniel. "How about friends?"

Leerdan answered almost immediately after, "Doesn't look like the guy had any friends."

McGee shook his head. "No, I mean friends of his brother or sister. People they've known their entire lives."

A look of understanding dawned on Miranda's face and she started typing. "Uh…looks like the sister, Tina, had a best friend that she grew up with."

McGee's face practically visibly brightened. "What's her name?" He demanded very impatiently.

"Faye Carbol." The voice that answered came from someone outside the team. More specifically, it came from a woman that had appeared at the entrance to the bullpen. She was of average height and build with very wavy light ash brown hair that fell down a few inches past her shoulder. She had her hands folded in front of her and a jacket folded over them. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five. She glanced at McGee shyly. "That would be me. I know the Flounds family very well."

McGee nodded and said the first thing that came to mind, "Thank you, for coming in. It means a lot and we could really use your help." Tim smiled a little and let out a small laugh of relief at the new development.

Faye nodded. "I'll be glad to help with whatever I can. But I don't know how much of a use I can be with anything."

"You just showing up is a huge help already." That wasn't even an overstatement. Faye showing up brought so much joy to the entire team that they finally made it somewhere in the case. They could get new intel and maybe even get closer to finding the bastard that killed the young girls. The girls were much too young to die; they didn't deserve what they got. What they did deserve was justice, and to have the perp that did this to them. The only information they had gotten in the past month other than the guy's name was the fact that he was practically completely untraceable. And that annoyed everyone to no end. "Whatever you can tell us is better than you not being here at all."

Miss Carbol nodded once. "I'm glad. Now, there is one thing I should tell you before anything." She glanced at the ground, an emotion similar to shame crossing her face briefly.

Everyone else just watched her calmly, not sure what she was about to say.

Faye eventually looked back to McGee and said, "Last month, I believe I witnessed the murder of one of the girls."

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**Brief random dedication to my two camp counselors that ended up bugging me so much that they ended up in the story.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So right now you're getting two chapters. I took a break and went brain dead. I'll try to get two more chapters done by today to make up for my absence the past few days**

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It took all of thirty seconds for McGee to have Faye escorted up to the conference room. A minute later McGee followed her up with the case folder tucked into his side. He closed the door behind him to ensure privacy and sat down at the end of the table near the door. Faye was sitting a few seats down from McGee on his right.

"So, Ms. Carbol, you said that you witnessed one of the murders a few months ago?" McGee asked. His voice was soft at the moment; he didn't want to scare Faye.

Faye nodded. "Yes, I said that." She looked at the table guiltily as she realized how bad it may have looked for her and how valuable that information could have been to the police.

"Now, what exactly did you see that night?" McGee asked. He was trying his best not to pressure Faye too much. It was a huge restraint on his part because he desperately wanted the information and it wasn't coming out fast enough.

Faye glanced at the agent briefly before looking down to her lap in thought. "Um, well…" She started to think back to the night two months ago.

_"And there's still no sign of the little girl." The static-altered voice of the man on the news radio station flowed out of the car speakers with a feeling of sorrow following. Anyone who was anyone knew about the brutal case of the young girls. It was now known as the "Lost Little Girl", or LLG, case to the public. It seemed innocent enough as a title, just like the little girls. It was a hot topic everywhere, which made it inescapable, which in turn made everyone glum almost all day. The third girl had gone missing, making this probably the quickest known case to the public in probably ever. Things like this weren't just ignored._

_This also created a huge problem for Metro police because they were pressured a lot harder into solving it as fast as they could._

_Currently, Faye was sitting in her car. She was near the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's parking lot, waiting for her friend to show up. The parking lot was a midway point between her and her friend that would allow free parking for one of their cars for the day. They planned to meet here at around five in the morning to get started on their long drive early. It was about ten minutes past five and Faye was getting very impatient. _

_Another voice came from the radio: "What has it been since she disappeared? Four days now?"_

_"That's right Jim. It's sad to say but there is reason to believe that the time limit is up for the Metropolitan police to find her." The first voice answered. The people on the radio went silent after that._

_Faye heard the last part of the conversation and had to turn the radio off. She should have known that topic would come up sooner or later. She glanced at the clock and sighed. "Come on Tina, hurry up." She muttered to herself then looked out the passenger side window to look for any sign of her friend's car._

_She squinted a little when she saw a person walking towards the entrance of the park. It looked like an older man carrying something in his arms. Faye leaned closer to the window and realized the man was carrying a younger girl who looked like she was asleep. _Weird, I wonder what they're up to this early. _Being awake this early really wasn't normal. But then again, Faye was up this early because her friend thought of this 'great' idea that she was late to. Faye couldn't help but roll her eyes and looked back out the window to watch people._

_The man shifted the girl in his arms a little and continued to walk down the street to the entrance. He stopped at the crosswalk and looked both ways. There were absolutely no cars in sight, as there shouldn't be, so the man walked across the street calmly._

_Faye's focus had been mostly on the girl, just staring at the long dark brown hair that dangled below her head. Inside her head, she imagined a girl with a face just as pretty as her hair. When the man stopped at the crosswalk, Faye looked up at him. She only saw the back of his head but something about him looked vaguely familiar. Being a woman, she couldn't help but look him over. He was dressed in one of those light brown heavy duty jackets that men generally used for the winter._

It is somewhat cold. _Faye thought as her gaze dropped down below the waist. He had on a pair of light-colored jeans and a pair of working boots. So, really, he looked like a normal man about to go do some work._

_As the man reached the other side of the street, a car came across Faye's vision. Faye looked at the car and got excited when she realized it was Tina finally showing up. She went to go look back at the man, but he seemed to disappear behind the trees. Faye just frowned a little and shrugged before looking back to Tina's car._

Faye continued explaining what happened in less detail, "Me and Tina left ten minutes after that and I never saw the man again. I had forgotten about it for a few days before I had turned on the TV and saw that another little girl was found at the zoo. I only saw her face for a brief moment before I got a call from Tina that we had to go back home to New Mexico and help out her brother with something. That afternoon out we were on the flight out and I was there until yesterday. Tina's brother, Mark, told us that we should come here and try to find Tina's other brother, Daniel. Mark said he was in some sort of trouble."

Faye shook her head as she took a deep breath. "As soon as we came back, we saw a picture of Daniel on the TV and that there was a warrant out for his arrest. Tina got really spooked and ran off. I went to a motel to get some sleep before coming here…" She got lost in thought for a moment.

McGee opened his mouth to ask another question, but Faye cut him off. "That's what was so familiar about that man then. He was Daniel…" She went silent again.

McGee looked at the table and let the information sink in. He looked back up to Faye. "Ms. Carbol, you have known the Flounds family your whole life?" Faye nodded just barely. "How did Daniel act as a child?" He asked.

Faye just looked at him with a confused expression. "I don't understand how that is relevant."

"Well we still have to make sure Daniel actually did these things. If he acted strange as a child, like if he had tendencies to lash out irrationally, that would show that he is unstable and he is more likely to do irrational things when he is older." McGee clarified as best as he could.

The woman took a moment to think. "I wasn't around Daniel a lot. He usually isolated himself, or we didn't want him to be with us because he was the youngest. Tina and Mark are twins, and we would go off while Daniel would stay home. He had weird habit so I tried to stay away from him." Faye paused briefly and tried to recall anything else. "That's really all I remember."

McGee wrote that down on a little notebook to add to Daniel's psychological profile. He nodded and said a quick thank you. "Also, you said that Tina ran off when she found out about Daniel. Do you have any idea where she is currently?" He asked.

Faye shook her head. "No. She might have gone to find him at his apartment."

Tim perked up a little when he heard that. "Do you know where he lives?"

Again, she shook her head. "No, Tina won't tell me for some reason. I've never been there either. I think he changes his apartment a lot though. I always thought it was for money issues but…" The thought didn't need to be finished because both knew what it was really for. "But I think he calls her every once in a while with the new address." She added.

Tim nodded and wrote that down as a note to himself to check it out. _Could be using burn phones_. Tim noted to himself. "Well you have been a huge help and if you don't mind, I'd like you to stay here for today just in case. There will be an agent outside the door that will escort you any place you need. Feel free to get food in the breakroom." McGee said with a smile and was out of the room ten seconds later.


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't want to watch it though." Kaylie said stubbornly. She glared at the man sitting next to her.

"And I don't care, it a great movie." Tony shook his head. He was being just as equally stubborn.

"No, it's not, it sucks." Kaylie wasn't going to back down.

Tony's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Are you kidding me? This movie is anything but that. Everyone loves this movie."

"Precisely why I don't like it. And not everyone loves the movie; there are plenty of people that don't like it at all. Now, we're watching something else." Kaylie got up and walked over to the immense movie rack next to the TV.

As she started searching for another movie, Tony was nearly having a heart attack. "I get that you don't want to be like everyone else, but this is a great movie. It's a great series for the movies and books. Have you even seen it?"

Kaylie didn't bother looking back at him as she answered. "Yes, I have. I've seen them all. They're all boring. The books are bad too." She picked out another movie and tossed it over to him. She didn't really have to argue over this. She knew she would always win no matter what; Tony was a huge softy whether he will admit it or not. They had an argument over movies about every single day, but mostly they were actually in-depth conversations about the movie, they weren't going to actually watch anything. On movie nights (Tony made them on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights so he wouldn't be tempted to go out, and Kaylie would have to suffer with him and stay in) the arguments were more based on whether or not Kaylie liked it. Even if Tony picked a movie, he called infinitely first pick, that Kaylie liked, they would get into some sort of argument. It was just their nature. If Tony picked out something Kaylie didn't like, she would pick something else. And while he tried to argue against it, he would always willingly watch the other one.

For this Friday night's movie night, Tony had picked out the first movie in the Harry Potter series. He had never really watched them before, but he knew people around Kaylie's age really loved them so he suggested it. It took all of two seconds for Kaylie to disagree. She hated the whole series with all of her heart. She used to be forced to watch the movies and they bored her beyond belief so now if someone even mentioned the name, she had to restrain herself from ripping their heads off.

Instead Kaylie picked out the first Iron Man movie and gave it to Tony. She liked the Iron Man series a lot better, and really liked the movies that Robert Downey Jr. were in.

Tony rolled his eyes in a joking way when he saw the movie. "Last week was Due Date, this week Iron Man. Am I going to have you to the premiere of The Judge?" He asked in a teasing tone.

Kaylie just sneered a little at him and sat back down on the couch. "Oh, your obsession with Jennifer Lawrence was much worse." She said then added, "And a lot creepier."

Tony just let out a short laugh then coughed as he started to feel awkward. Before Kaylie could smirk at her victory, he got up and put the movie in the DVD player. "Go get the popcorn." He said when his back was turned to her.

Kaylie chuckled for a moment before getting up and going to the kitchen to make the popcorn.

A few minutes later, the teenager came back with a big bowl of popcorn, a beer, and an orange soda. She handed the popcorn over to Tony and dropped the orange soda next to him before sitting down.

Tony, who was completely expecting this, just sighed. He grabbed the orange soda and started to shake it up. He aimed it at Kaylie and threatened to open it unless she gave him the beer. "Come on, hand it over."

Kaylie stared at him for a bit, beer in hand, not wanting to move yet.

Tony shook his head. "I do this for a living; you're not going to win."

After letting that sink in, Kaylie realized that she really wasn't going to win this at all. Reluctantly, she handed over the beer bottle.

Tony nodded his head once. "See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" He said in an annoyingly sweet voice.

The girl just snatched the orange soda from him and got up. "I'm going to go spray this all over your good suits." She said.

"You do that, you're dead." Tony threatened, completely serious this time.

She just laughed devilishly and went to the kitchen to replace her soda.

Tony shook his head. "She's insane." He said then jumped a little when he heard a knock at the door. He looked down the hall to where Kaylie was. "Thank god she didn't see that." He muttered and got up to answer the door. "I'm coming!" He called when another knocked resounded throughout the small house.

He was very surprised to see the person standing there. "Ziva." He said; the shock evident in his voice. "What're you doing here?"

For some reason, Ziva was equally shocked to see Tony there. Even though she knew he was there, she made sure to check that he was there. "I need to talk to you about some things." She was a lot better at hiding any random shock she still had.

"Such as…?" Tony pushed, wondering if this was truly important to do on a Friday night of all things. He hadn't seen her in four days, which wasn't surprising, because he didn't think he would see her again for several months.

Ziva easily dodged the question. "May I come in?"

Tony, now absolutely confused, nodded slowly and moved out of the doorway to let her in. He watched Ziva curiously as she walked around daintily, as if one wrong step could break everything. She made her way to the couch and trailed a hand on the back of it. She glanced around the room as quick as she could before looking back at Tony.

Tony had not stopped watching her at all. "So, what's up?" He asked, trying to sound casual even though he was prickling with anxiety.

"There is someone listening to us." Ziva said. She was right, directly behind her in the hallway, Kaylie was leaning against the wall, very well hidden, listening to the conversation.

Tony just nodded. "I'm aware, and I'm not going to call her off unless absolutely necessary." One look from Ziva told him that it was. "Kaylie!" He called to her. "Go to bed." Even though the two couldn't see her, Tony knew she did as told. He even believed that the door closing was Kaylie following instructions. "We're good." He said.

Ziva nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem." Tony answered. "Now start talking." He was trying his best to avoid silences that could take a turn for the worse.

Ziva stayed pensive though. She had a mission to do, but everything in her was screaming at her not to do it. "I lied." She said, not exactly sure where she was going with this. "About that case. We were supposed to have a joint operation but your team seemed busy so I decided to take it away from you."

Tony looked at her like she had grown two heads. "You came all this way at," He glanced to the clock quickly, "ten thirty at night just to tell me you had lied about a stupid case?"

Ziva internally scoffed at him calling it a 'stupid case'. The case was a lot bigger than what Tony thought. She shook her head to clear her thoughts but Tony thought that was her answer to his question and pressed. "Then what are you here for?" He asked, being a bit harsh because he really wanted answers.

Ziva froze for a moment and she stared at the ground shyly. She didn't know how to answer and she was the one who was supposed to talk so Tony didn't say a word. After a minute of silence, Tony realized this was the silence he was trying to avoid. He looked Ziva over and something inside of him broke. His shoulders slumped and he looked defeated. "Hey, Ziva, do you want to get some lunch some time?" He asked. It was meant to be a question to create a date for more talking about the case, and it wasn't until after he asked that Tony realized what it really sounded like.

But before he could save himself, Ziva was looking at him with a slightly eager face and she nodded. "Yes, Tony, I would." She smiled at him that smile that he had always found infectious. Before he knew it, he was smiling right back at her.

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**These chapters are kind of longer too. Consider it a bonus. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

The two had agreed on having lunch the next day. And it was silently agreed on that this was purely a friendly lunch. Of course that didn't stop a little part of both of them to believe that this was, in fact, their first real date.

So the next day, Tony was silently freaking out. The night before he figured out what to do with Kaylie so she wasn't without agency protection at all times. He was able to think straight for at least a minute before going insane at the reality. Kaylie was going to hang out with a friend at the movie theater until Tony came and got her. Agents would be walking around the theater, as well as going inside to the movie. It was kind of a bonus for the two agents that were allowed to watch the movie, as long as they kept an eye on Kaylie too.

Once Tony had that straightened out, he started to get really hyped up and anxious about the next day. He tried to just go to bed and sleep off the anxiety, but all going to bed did to him was make him restless, and have him wake up just as anxious but also very tired.

Eventually, he just gave up on sleeping and started doing random things around the apartment for a few hours until Kaylie finally left her room. She had been awake for about an hour, but she didn't want to get up. The noises Tony was making started getting too annoying for her and she felt compelled to go check on him.

Due to his anxiety, Tony immediately blurted out everything to Kaylie. It was nothing that he wasn't already going to tell her; however, it came out a lot faster than he planned. Kaylie's response was really just to nod and go back to her room to get ready. Tony sighed in relief and was eternally grateful that Kaylie was this understanding and easy-going.

Elsewhere, in the very dusty and unused basement of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, sat Ziva David. She looked around the room, taking in how much this place had changed since she had last been down here. About six months now. She came to visit the day she got the job offer at the CIA. Of course Ziva knew no one would be down here, she was just using it as a place to escape and think for a moment. Sure, she could have hid in her apartment, but that didn't offer the same atmosphere as this basement.

In the past six months, dust had definitely accumulated, which was not at all a surprise. Somehow the smell of bourbon and sawdust still hadn't faded; it seemed as strong as ever really. Ziva had to smile at that. Gibbs' basement was like him: strong and stubborn against change.

Ziva had lunch with Tony in forty-five minutes so she could not stay too long or she would arrive late. _I can't be late to a date, that's amateur work._ She thought then shook her head and had to remind herself for probably the hundredth time. _This is not a date._ Ziva didn't care if she was supposed to date Tony, it still felt wrong. That reminded Ziva of why she was really in Gibbs basement. "Oh, Gibbs." She sighed. "What am I supposed to do? I can't trick Tony into this. It wouldn't be fair to him." She knew Gibbs wasn't dead and talking to him like he was would get her answers just as fast as him standing in front of her. No, she had to figure this out on her own.

Fifteen minutes later, Ziva had made her decision and was out the door to her lunch date with Tony.

The two adults managed to show up at the little diner at the same time. Tony greeted her courtly, adding a little bit of dramatization as he was DiNozzo. The little act did not fail to make Ziva laugh appreciatively though.

"Hello Anthony." Ziva said with a warm smile as they sat themselves down in a small corner booth.

"Hello Ziva. How has your morning been?" Tony asked while flashing an equally heartfelt smile back.

"Oh it went just wonderfully. How was yours?" She replied and looked over to her side and up a little to watch one of the waitresses place menus down in front of the two.

Tony picked up the menu and started to look through it as he answered. "Just swimmingly. I only sweat through three shirts before coming here." He looked over the top of the menu and smiled at her to show that he was joking. It had only been two shirts.

Ziva let out a short chuckle and started to go through the menu too. "Did Kaylie have to bear through this or was she already gone?"

"Bear through it?" Tony repeated, acting completely taken aback at the idea. "More like enjoyed it thoroughly." He shook his head. "She loves to see me in turmoil…I don't get her sense of humor."

"I would pay to see the _Very_ Special Agent DiNozzo break down." Ziva said, making sure to drop her voice when she said his real name, just in case. A teasing smirk graced her face as she placed down her menu, having decided on what she wanted.

Tony let out a short laugh. "Well, Miss David, you shall never see this as long as I keep Kaylie's phone away from you." He looked at his watch. "And possibly the entire internet at this point." He dropped his head into his hands and shook it back and forth a couple of times. "Teenagers and their technology will be the death of me."

Ziva couldn't help but laugh at the comment. "You are the one who signed up for it."

"Yeah, well, someone should make a manual on this stuff." Tony said gruffly and lifted up his head.

"I am sure there is a book on it somewhere. But I doubt you need it. You seem fine with Kaylie." Ziva was completely sincere as she said this. She truly did believe, and was slightly shocked, at how good Tony was with kids. She supposed that deep down she always knew it, but it's good to see that it is true.

Tony smiled genuinely at her. "Thank you, Ziva." He was surprised at the news. Sure, he knew he wasn't failing with Kaylie, but that's mostly because she already knows how to take care of herself. Tony hadn't really thought about how much of a difference he could have been making on the teenager.

"Anytime." Ziva said and the two shared a knowing smile.

After an instant of just staring at each other, Tony dipped down his head and laughed.

Ziva kept looking at him, now completely confused. "What?"

Tony shrugged a little. "It's just, when I said that, I did want to talk to you again. Then we just didn't talk for six months."

Ziva nodded gloomily, "Yes, work tends to do that to people. Especially our jobs."

"Huge mistake on my part." Tony added, mostly just as an afterthought even though its meaning held so much more thought to it.

Ziva's smile seemed to stretch off her face from that comment.

Before silence could overtake the table, the waitress from earlier walked up to their table to take their orders.

Across the street from the diner, a man sat on a bench. He watched the two people talk and laugh. The man looked anything but pleased to see the two people so happy together. From his pocket, the man drew out a camera and proceeded to take photos of the two people. He grumbled a few explicit terms to himself that regarded the pair then happiness in general. The man put the camera back into his pocket and went on watching Tony and Ziva talk for the entire lunch date. As the two got up and left, the man did the same. Both adults were too consumed in each other to notice the man.

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**Did you like the Tiva date? Who do you think the mystery man is? I really wanted Ziva alone in Gibbs' basement, so thats why that little section is there.**


	10. Chapter 10

**The much long waited chapter 10 is finally up! If you guys care, or remember me. I did seem to disappear for weird lengths of time. It just gets away from me. I swear yesterday was the beginning of October but its not even close. So I finally put this up, Word was working, and I got writing.**

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The time seemed to crawl like a snail as she waited for her informant. There was no one in the park, which is a very good situation for an information swap. But it was also cold, as it is November, and the tough Mossad ninja can only go so long without heat. Ziva never could understand how some people adapted to cold weather after long periods of time. It always seemed to affect her more and more the long she stayed in the US. She wrapped her coat tighter around her and started to take another lap around the park to waste more time.

Yes, she had arrived early, but early was thirty minutes ago and now the informant was late. Not that the person cares whether or not Ziva waited for the whole day before showing up. Just another reason that the CIA leaves Ziva wanting to kill someone. That must be their ultimate plan: piss the agents off so much that they willingly kill their targets without much care. It was a good plan, the only problem was-

"Agent David," Came a very curt and annoyed voice, one that was like that probably all of the time.

_Finally._ Ziva thought with exasperation before shifting her head toward the disembodied voice. "You have the coffee?" He didn't, and she knew he didn't, but it was some confirmation question when two operatives were to meet and didn't know each other.

"No, but I hear the café around the corner has great lattes." That was the confirmation answer. One would think it would be easy to catch on. Apparently not.

David nodded once. She never asked for his name, for she was never told and doubts he would give her a true answer. Besides, it's not like knowing his name is in anyway relevant to the meeting. Sometimes the CIA can be more cryptic than Mossad. "What is the information that you have to deliver?" Ziva asked.

"Agent Ripley has informed me that you are working on the radioactive head case?" The man stated, even though it was more of a question of precautions.

Ziva nodded once again. "Yes."

The informant looked nervous briefly as if thinking over what he was about to say. The look passed as quick as it came. "The head has been tracked back to a New Mexican desert. No place is certain, but suspicions are that it is the Chihuahuan Desert specifically."

"I have no interest in suspicions." Ziva cut in. She was cold, annoyed, and just want to leave. It was to be dark soon and the last thing she wanted was to wander around in the dark.

The man, ignoring the blatant disrespectful interruption, continued talking, "There is believed to be a new terrorist camp or organization forming there." He glanced around briefly started talking more rapidly as he listed off what he knew. "The terrorist camp is American and the reasons behind it are unknown for now. The group is trying to recruit as many different foreign countries to be able to launch an attack on the US."

Ziva then asked, "What countries have been recruited?"

"From what we know, just small third world countries that cannot do much damage." He said snidely.

"Any group of people can do significant damage if they have enough heart for it." Ziva snapped at him. "What countries have denied the recruitment?"

"Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan," He took a breath and tried to think of other countries. This of course made Ziva think the worst of what her country was doing. He finally added, "and Isreal" after a much longer than necessary break.

Ziva let out a breath she did not know that she was holding.

The man smirked a little, very aware of whom was in his presence. "Yes, the great Eli David denied any attribution to the terrorist effort."

She just glared daggers at him.

"Actually, from what I heard, Eli David was trying to retire. He was closing off any operations he was involved in and denying to start any new ones for quite some time. Looked to me as if the old man was just going soft."

The informant surely had a death wish, but Ziva was still caught on the word 'retire'. Her father wanted to retire? That may have made sense; he did sort of vaguely in a way mention that he was tired of his job when he came to visit. Ziva suppressed the urge to smile as she remembered the last few good memories that she had with her father.

Ziva let out a brief sigh and glanced around at her surroundings. The few around the two seemed so calm and at peace, which probably wasn't true, but it still seemed to make it unfair that her life was such a mess. She didn't return the man's gaze for a minute as she tried to piece her mind together into coherent thoughts. She did not know what to think of the new information that had come to light. It did not make sense, at all. Okay, it may make sense, but Ziva's stubborn side was refusing herself to make sense of it or even start to believe it.

Yes, she was proud of her father for taking such risks, but it still did not make any sense. Closing off cases and giving up on Mossad meant that he was giving up on ultimate security and was immediately a target for anyone that ever wanted to kill him. And that was in no way a short list.

Ziva then realized the informant was still here and was pulled out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat before speaking, "Is that all?" She asked.

The man nodded. "For now."

"Good, you may go." She said with a dismissive wave. Ziva started walking off before her company even had chance to process what she said. She walked half of the park before sitting down on a bench to think. Less than a minute later, she felt someone sit down next to her. She did not jump up, but instead whipped her head fast enough to get whiplash. The person there was the last person she expected. "McGee." She said, a smile growing on her face.

McGee smiled back, more than jubilant to see one of his best friends after so long. "Hey Ziva."

"What are you doing here?" Ziva asked.

"Just taking a stroll to clear my head before I go back to the office. But I was just going to ask you the same thing." McGee shot back in a friendly way. He did know that Ziva had joined the CIA, and from what he heard from Tony, she was acting guarded again. Tim was wondering if it was just Tony's fault.

Ziva seemed to think about the question for a few seconds before answering honestly, "Here for some work. Nothing serious. Tony said you guys were on a case and have been for a month?"

Tm grimaced then nodded. "Yeah, it's been tough. Especially with only two people at the office now. Vance hasn't pushed for another agent so Tony has been staying away from that. Of course he doesn't have to do hills of paperwork as a single father." McGee rolled his eyes.

"I am sure Kaylie is just as hard to handle." Ziva said, slightly amused. From what she has seen, Kaylie is ten times easier to handle than paperwork, but saying that won't make McGee feel better.

"Maybe, I only met her once, when we hired her. But it was brief and not informational. You met her right?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "She a good kid?"

Ziva thought that over for a minute before nodding. "So far, yes. Tony is good with keeping her on line though."

McGee's face crunched into confusion. "He encourages her to be on the internet?" He asked.

Now it was Ziva's turn to be confused. "No."

"That's what you said."

"No, I said that he keeps her behavior reformed."

Then McGee started laughing. "You meant in line, not on line."

Ziva laughed a little too. "Same difference."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence. After a few minutes, Ziva realized how dark it had gotten and how much colder it had gotten also. She stood up. "I think I should go. And you've been away from the office long enough."

McGee stood also and nodded. "Yeah. It was great seeing you Ziva. Come visit anytime."

Ziva nodded once also and started to walk away. She slowed after a few steps and turned around. "Take care of Tony, will you?" She asked.

McGee was silent for a moment. "Only if you will too." He smiled at her.

Ziva smiled back before turning again and leaving the park.

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**Now for anyone that is wondering, I did make this entire story before I knew any spoilers about season 11 of NCIS and I have not changed a single moment of it to fit to the show. Yes, I really did guess that the terrorist would be in America(and I was one state off from what the show had, very upsetting). But here is finally a McGiva scene because its chapter 10 and they haven't seen or talked to each other in six months.**

**I am hoping to get up chapters more quickly but dont hold your breath, I'm not very reliable with this.**


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